Toy furniture



July 15, 1958 A. P. BERGSTRAND 2,842,780

TOY FURNITURE Filed Feb. '7. 1957 I I I I 32 44 26 4o INVENTOR.

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United States PatentOfiice Andrew- P. -Bergstrand,-*Moline,=-* Ill., assignor to Strombeck-Becker Illinois pli ation Es wa y .7,. 1 5 S ria .N 6.38 :75

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e n ss a featur s. a sim e ns n vel s stt s er o l Q. %1.- Y ea ss t tsd a s tatlis sa ssushaa ture of the invention.;re-

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supports in the; formgzof legs.

The foregging and othen important.,objects and desirable features inherent in and encompassed by the invention will beeome'apparent as a preferred embodiment thereof is disclosed in'detail in-the ensuing specification and accompanying'sheet of drawings-Abe several figures of which are des ibed immediate y b Figure 1 is a perspective of the structure as a sofa.

Figure 2,.is a perspective of the struc ture as a sofa bed.

Figure 3,. is an end view, with t e left-hand a rm re moved, showing thesofa characteristics.

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the seat and front panel unfolded.

Figure is a fragmentary view, partly in section, as seen along the line 5--5 in Figure 4.

As seen in Figure 1 the sofa has substantially the outward appearance of a typical sofa and is made up of base structure 10 including a generally upright back 12 to which are secured transversely spaced apart forwardly extending arms 14 which have transversely alined terminal front portions 16. The base further includes a bottom in the form of a transverse horizontal panel 18 which serves as floor-proximate means having its front edge 20 affording another terminal portion on the base means substantially in transverse alinement with the terminal front portions 16 of the arms 14. For reasons to be brough out below the bottom 18 is preferably imperforate. The members comprising the back 12, the arms 14 and bottom 16 are rigidly united by nailing or gluing or a combination of both; although, these details in no way limit the invention.

The sofa structure as such is completed by a front member or panel 22 which in its normal or sofa position is generally upright and extends transversely between the arms 14, having a lower or floor proximate edge 24 parallel and adjacent to the front edge portion 20 of the bottom 18 and an upper edge 26 disposed at a level above the floor and, of course, at a level below the top of the P t n d July 15,1958

:2 back 12. Aseatmember 28 is,normally;disposed horizontally,-extending transversely between the'arms14 and forer and aft between the front, panel 22 nd thefront surface of the back. 12. :The seat member. has, afrpnt 5 edge 30 proximate to the .top. edge 26 .of the front panel ,,22 and a rear. edge 32 normally. preferably in .;contact with the front surface. of the back, 12.

, Qmitting forflthe moment.the. details of -means interconnecting the. seat, front and bottom members 28; 22 and ,18, it will be noted from Figure 3 that the frontlportionof the seat. is supported over .the frontpanel 22 and the rear portion of the. ,seat, is supportedin spaced relation above the bottom .18 by a lip mernbet; 34, which ,member. is rigidly ,secured to the.. rear portion. of t he seat 3s by gluing o r nailing or a combinationaof both for example. T he lower or. free edge .ofthe lip member; 34 (considered in Figure 3) is slightly rounded or other- ..wiseshapedto conform, to. a groove, 38 formed, in the bottom 18 at. the I junction of. the .bottom. with the, lower 0 front portion of the back 12. As will be developed ;be-

low, the structure 3638 affords releasable detent means for. preventing unfolding .of .-the structure.

The .,members 28, 22 and .18 -are interconnected; by Bl k m s' smpr s s a p f l n s t eashe ,.;of,.the structure. Eachlink is rigidly secured,,as.by nail- ..ingfat 42, to the.end of the front panel .22 andiujaddition .each, link is pivoted at oneencl at .44ato the-front portion ofthe seat 28 and. is. pivoted atits otheryend at. 46 to ',;,the,fr.ont portion 20 0f; the bottom .18. As bestg shown .,.in Figure. 5, the. bottom is lnot ched or .reeessed aty48 to accommodate the nailorpin-which-eifects a lower-hinge P axis, it e nsun erst o .-tla t uc u e is ,identical.a t eachof. itsoppositeends. ln lik e rnanner, a .fronthinge iaxisissprovided by;t l1e pins-or nails that ;are .;.used,at the .pivot connection 44. In other words; the base meansorstructure ltl includes as rigidly interconnected g par ts thereof the, back. 12, the-arms 14 and; the; floorpproximate bottomlfi,,and the remainingv structure coml" prises, the panel 22, the L shaped s eat and lip element 23-.34. and the link means. .4.0..,40.

,When the structure operates as a,sofa.. Eigur es l and tafi s n nter rs par m fit w ic houses L, .ts li dmat e s Ih .na l s s tflexib e 5 material, such as foam rubber, which readily assumes the rolled position of Figure 3 and just as readily lies flat as in Figure 4 when the structure is unfolded. In view of the resilient nature of the mattress 52, it has a tendency to urge the structure toward its unfolded position, but this is resisted by a combination of the releasable locking means at 36-33 and frictional contact between the rear edge 32 of the seat 28 and the front surface of the back 12. In this respect, it should be noted that the seat and the back are flocked or otherwise treated to simulate a fabric finish, which process improves the frictional contact just described. The arms as well could be flocked or similarly treated as desired.

The function of the groove 38 and free edge 36 of the lip 34 is such as to prevent forward swinging of the panel 22 about the hinge axis 46-46. Frictional contact at 32-12 resists the tendency of the seat member 28 to pivot upwardly about the hinge axis 4444.

The operation of converting the sofa from the position of Figure 1 to that of Figure 2 involves simply a sufiicient forward and somewhat upward movement to overcome the retention at 3638 and 3212, whereupon the seat 28 may be swung upwardly about the hinge 44-44 and then the seat and front panel 22 may be swung forwardly and downwardly about the hinge 46 7O 46. It will be noted from Figures 2 and 5 that the lip 34 at this time affords a foot board for the bed and the back 12 constitutes the head board. The mattress 52 may be readily unrolled and laid out on the hori- 3 zontally coplanar members 18, 22 and 28. When it is desired to reconvert the bed to the sofa the mattress is rolled to a size sufiicient to be accommodated by the compartment 50 and the members are folded again to their sofa position (Figures 1 and 3).

The simple link means enables quick and easy construction of the furniture and avoids the requirement for complicated toggles and similar linkage. The recess at 48 conceals the proximate ends of the links and the fact that the front panel 22 lies within or rearwardly of an upright plane including the front terminal portions of the arms, which is also true of the front portion of the seat 28, means that both links are quite completely concealed in the sofa position of the structure. The relatively few moving parts contribute not only to the ease of manufacture but also to the long life of the product in use, being readily manipulatable by children of the age group for which it is especially designed. Other features of the invention not categorically enumerated will undoubtedly suggest themselves, as will many modifications and alterations in the preferred embodiment disclosed, all of which may be achieved without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A sofa bed for childrens dolls, comprising: a base made up of a back, a pair of upright end panels secured to and extending forwardly from the back, and a rigid horizontal bottom panel adjoining and extending forwardly from the back to a transverse front edge and fixed at opposite ends to and extending transversely between the end panels at a level closely proximate to the floor, said bottom panel having at its junction with each end panel a forwardly and upwardly facing notch affording a link-receiving notch concealed in part by the proximate end panel, and the junction of the bottom panel with the back affording a transverse upwardly opening groove running between and concealed endwise by said end panels; a top panel disposed in a sofa position at a level spaced above the bottom panel and extending transversely between and concealed endwise by the end panels and having transverse front and rear edges vertically alined respectively with the bottom panel front edge and the groove; a vertical transverse panel rigidly secured to the rear edge of the sofa-positioned top panel and depending therefrom into the groove and resting thereat on the base as the sole support of the rear edge of said sofa-positioned top panel and concealed endwise by the end panels, and further fitting said groove to resist forward displacement of said top panel relative to the base; a pair of links having end portions disposed respectively in the pockets and pivoted thereat to the base on a transverse horizontal axis and, in the sofa position of the top panel, extending upwardly to the respective opposite ends of the top panel inwardly of and concealed endwise by the respective end panels, said links having their opposite end portions pivoted to the top panel adjacent to the front edge thereof on a transverse horizontal axis to serve as the sole support of the front edge of said sofa-positioned top panel; a closure panel extending between and carried exclusively by the links and filling the space between the front edges of the top and bottom panels and assuming a front upright position when the top panel is in its sofa position; said top and front panel being swingable via the link pivots in a forward and downward direction to extend forwardly from the base as horizontal extensions of the bottom panel to convert the sofa to a doll bed, said vertical panel then rising from the top panel as a foot board for said doll bed, and said top panel then presenting its upper surface as a floor-engaging surface in an area closely proximate to the link pivots to minimize vertical deflection of the closure and top panels when weight is applied to said doll bed.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, in which: the rear edge of the sofa-positioned top panel lies closely proximate to the front surface of the back and said front surface of the back and the top surface and rear edge of the sofa-positioned top panel are covered with material simulating upholstery and said material at said rear edge and said front surface frictionally engaging to contribute to the retention of the top panel in its sofa position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 417,843 Sprague Dec. 24, 1889 1,366,820 Minnick Jan. 25, 1921 1,506,416 Dewey Aug. 26, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS 244,810 Switzerland June 2, 1947 832,187 France June 27, 1938 902,471 France Aug. 31, 1945 

